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I assume the Catholic Church will be issuing an apology to poor Martin soon. :O)

According to New Advent, the Catholic Encyclopedia, it states what indulgences are and are not:

To facilitate explanation, it may be well to state what an indulgence is not. It is not a permission to commit sin, nor a pardon of future sin; neither could be granted by any power. It is not the forgiveness of the guilt of sin; it supposes that the sin has already been forgiven. It is not an exemption from any law or duty, and much less from the obligation consequent on certain kinds of sin, e.g., restitution; on the contrary, it means a more complete payment of the debt which the sinner owes to God. It does not confer immunity from temptation or remove the possibility of subsequent lapses into sin. Least of all is an indulgence the purchase of a pardon which secures the buyer's salvation or releases the soul of another from Purgatory. The absurdity of such notions must be obvious to any one who forms a correct idea of what the Catholic Church really teaches on this subject. New Advent

Based upon New Advent's definition, I'm not sure how one can construed indulgences is not a work oriented program when the definition states that we are paying SOMETHING for the debt that we owe to God. What are we making payment for? What does "more complete payment of the debt" means exactly?

If I understand your position correction, I suppose one could look upon this like tithing. Some churches will say the more we tithe the greater our "payment" to God for what He has done. It confers blessings to us. God wants us to give to Him so that He can "bless us".

I would suggest this theology, along with indulgences, is misconstrued in many seeker sensitive churches. God is the author of all things and if we have any funds with which to give God, it is because He has given it to us and laid it upon our hearts to give. We cannot nor should we look upon anything that we do or give as "giving back to God" in payment of anything. We are to rest in what Christ has done for us. When God looks at us, He is really looking at the completed works of Christ. There is no debt to be paid.

The indulgences, the wearing of the scapulars, miraculous medals, the prayers to "Mary", etc,....all show a lack of faith in the complete forgiveness Christ offers us through faith in Him, and only Him.

In the words of Paul, the Roman Catholic who participates in these has abandoned the Gospel for a false gospel not centered on Christ.

This also illustrates the danger of allowing "tradition" to be equated as equal with Scripture. It opens up the door to a whole host of false doctrines as witnessed on these threads.